According to a report from the Department of Labor and Industry the Marcellus Shale play is boosting employment in Pennsylvania beyond the expectations of many experts.
Consider these facts:
1. Nearly 48,000 people have been hired in the last year by industries related to drilling in the Marcellus Shale.
2. Nine thousand of them were hired in the first three months of 2011.
3. There’s been nearly a 1,300 percent increase in core Marcellus industry jobs in the Northern Tier counties of Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga and Wyoming since 2008.
4. The central counties including Lycoming, Clinton, Centre, Columbia and Northumberland saw an increase of more than 660 percent.